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Stephy Zhang

At just nine years old, Hong Kong’s Wong Tsz-ching is already approaching the end of his competitive balance bike career.
A keen rider, Tsz-ching started at four years old and entered his first race six months later. His five-year-old sister, Wong Tsz-yau, followed suit, competing at two and a half.
However, even though Tsz-ching has faced the best riders across Asia and represented Hong Kong at a world cup-level balance bike event in Japan, back home he has nearly run out of tracks.
While children in Tokyo, Taipei, or mainland China can race balance bikes until they are 12 or 13, lack of space, safety limits and academic pressures force Hong Kong’s young riders into early retirement just as they reach primary school.
Their father, Wong Siu-cheong, has invested roughly HK$30,000 (about US$3,800) in modified equipment for the siblings, alongside monthly coaching fees of HK$1,000 per child.
The investment yielded results. At the end of 2025, Tsz-ching finished in the top 10 of the eight-year-old category at the King of Runbike World Cup, mainland China’s largest children’s balance bike competition, competing against top riders from across Asia.

But Wong said that his son has only one local event left before he must officially retire from Hong Kong competitions.
“If we could, we would love for him to keep competing a couple of years longer ... but Hong Kong has its limitations.”
The sport’s early exit age is tied directly to Hong Kong’s lack of space.
Balance bikes were introduced to mainland China and Hong Kong around 2015 through early childhood education and parent-child communities.
While mainland China experienced an explosive boom that peaked around 2020 with dedicated indoor arenas and corporate sponsorship, Hong Kong developed on a different trajectory.
Andrew Li, who founded the Balance Bike Group Hong Kong a decade ago, pointed out that the lack of space in the city has created an unavoidable safety paradox.
“Our racing venues are small. If older, larger children ride fast in a confined space, the risk of collisions and injury increases significantly,” Li said.
“In other regions, tracks are wider, so 10- or 11-year-olds can compete safely. But in Hong Kong, we have to be cautious.”
He said Hong Kong lacks large indoor sports halls dedicated to balance bikes, adding that most events rely on outdoor venues like football pitches or private sites such as Central’s event space, leaving organisers vulnerable to weather disruptions.
Even public facilities present contradictions for parents.
“The Leisure and Cultural Services Department has balance bike parks, but when we take our kids there, officials tell them they cannot ride too fast,” Wong said. “It feels contradictory. How do you define fast or slow on a balance bike? It’s a race – are they supposed to just stroll?”
Along with the lack of space, the children also have to deal with educational demands. In Hong Kong, children aged eight enter Primary 3, a milestone marked by a sharp rise in the academic workload and exam pressure.

“Around eight years old, study pressures become quite intense in Hong Kong. Parents inevitably put academics first,” Li said, adding that low local birth rates have further shrunk the pool of young participants.
Having endured a total shutdown of over a year during the Covid-19 pandemic, Li said that Hong Kong’s balance bike scene is currently in a phase of “starting over”.
He said unlike the mainland market, which saw a rapid surge followed by a visible decline after 2020, Hong Kong’s scene avoided an abrupt crash, steadily rebuilding its grass-roots foundation.
Despite early retirement ages, balance bikes serve a crucial developmental purpose in Hong Kong as an entry point for youth athletics.
Li emphasised that balance bikes offer a low-barrier, high-aerobic activity that builds motor skills, core balance and reaction speed in children as young as 18 months, without the complex rules of basketball or football.
“Balance bikes require substantial physical endurance,” Wong said, noting that his son’s athletic performance in track and field ranks in the upper tier among his peers.
“When he started track and field at five or six, the coach had him run for long periods, and he didn’t tire easily. It gave him a great physical foundation.”
This foundation has helped older riders transition into mainstream sports after hanging up their balance bike helmets.
Li mentioned former riders from his club have moved on to Hong Kong’s BMX squad, top-10 youth rankings in table tennis and elite primary school swimming teams, including Diocesan Boys’ School.
The culture surrounding balance bikes in Hong Kong is also evolving. Li noted that while hyper-competitive trophy hunting surged years ago as commercial coaching expanded, recent years have brought a healthier shift.

“Around 60 to 70 per cent of parents now view it as a recreational activity rather than a high-pressure competition,” Li said.
Looking ahead, Li hopes to steer the local scene towards a balanced “carnival” model, similar to European events, combining festive, low-stress play areas with structured races on shared grounds.
“Sports should be fun for young kids. If you force two- or three-year-olds into intense competition, it’s not suitable,” Li said.
“Our goal is to build an environment where children can enjoy riding without excessive pressure, giving them a solid start for whatever sport they choose next.”


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Wong Tsz-ching finished in the top 10 of the eight-year-old category at the King of Runbike World Cup. Photo: Wong Siu-cheong


Wong Tsz-yau, who is five years old, started competing on balance bikes at two and a half. Photo: Wong Siu-cheong

Wong Tsz-ching celebrates on the top of the podium after winning a local competition. Photo: Wong Siu-cheong

Wong Tsz-ching started riding at four and entered his first race six months later. Photo: Wong Siu-cheong

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Hong Kong

Sport serves a crucial developmental purpose for entry points into youth athletics and helps former riders in BMX, table tennis and swimming


Sport serves a crucial developmental purpose for entry points into youth athletics and helps former riders in BMX, table tennis and swimming.


Wong Tsz-to

Hong Kong’s young balance bike stars face early retirement due to lack of space

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Sport serves a crucial developmental purpose for entry points into youth athletics and helps former riders in BMX, table tennis and swimming

Sport serves a crucial developmental purpose for entry points into youth athletics and helps former riders in BMX, table tennis and swimming